Rwanda says eight people have died so far from the highly contagious Ebola-like Marburg virus, just days after the country declared an outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever for which there is no vaccine or approved treatment.
Like Ebola, Marburg virus originates in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with infected bodily fluids or with surfaces, such as contaminated bedsheets. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal for up to 88 percent of people who develop the disease.
Rwanda, a landlocked country in central Africa, declared an outbreak on Friday and a day later the first six deaths were reported.
Health Minister Sabine Nsanzimana said on Sunday evening that 26 cases had been confirmed so far, and eight of the patients had died.
The public has been urged to avoid physical contact to help limit the spread of the disease. About 300 people who had contact with those confirmed to be infected with the virus were identified, and an unspecified number of them were placed in isolation facilities.
Most of those affected are healthcare workers in six out of the country’s 30 regions.
“Marburg is a rare disease,” Nsanzimana told reporters. “We are ramping up contact tracing and testing to help stop the spread of the disease.”
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The minister said that the source of the disease has not yet been identified. He added that it can take between three days and three weeks for a person infected with the virus to develop symptoms.
Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and, in some cases, death from severe blood loss.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday on the social media platform
The US Embassy in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, urged its employees to work remotely and avoid visiting offices.
Outbreaks of Marburg virus and individual cases have been recorded in the past in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana, according to the World Health Organization.
The rare virus was first identified in 1967 after causing simultaneous outbreaks in laboratories in Marburg, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia. Seven people who were exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys died.
Separately, Rwanda has so far reported six cases of smallpox, a disease caused by a virus related to smallpox but usually causes milder symptoms. Smallpox, formerly known as monkeypox because it first appeared in research monkeys, has infected several other African countries in what the World Health Organization has called a global health emergency.
Rwanda launched a smallpox vaccination campaign earlier this month, and more vaccines are expected to arrive in the country. Neighboring Congo has so far reported the most cases of smallpox to its emergency centre.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
